Voting Machines On Trial In Fairfax
Ill-Fated Fall Vote Prompts Scrutiny

By David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 9, 2004; Page B01

The Democratic presidential nomination is not the only issue on the line in tomorrow's primary in Virginia. Local and state lawmakers say they will be watching closely how Fairfax County's touch-screen voting system performs after its disastrous debut in the November elections.

Another bad showing could halt the move toward adopting touch-screen machines elsewhere in Virginia and broaden the support for several bills related to election machines in the General Assembly, said state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax). He estimated that more than a dozen jurisdictions across the state are considering whether to buy voting computers similar to the ones Fairfax purchased for $3.5 million last year.

Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said the primary could make or break the voting machines' future.

"Obviously if there are major malfunctions in this election, I think the board will insist on a whole host of measures and an independent audit of this technology and its vendor," said Connolly, who was elected chairman in November. "But I'm hopeful that's not going to be the case. I'm an optimist by nature. It's my fervent hope that the glitches that occurred . . . last year will not occur on February 10th."

County election officials and the machines' designers, from Advanced Voting Solutions of Frisco, Texas, promised before the November elections that the computers would simplify voting and produce near-instantaneous results. Instead, some vote tallies weren't known until 21 hours after the polls closed because of a software problem, and scores of voters complained of long lines and machines that crashed.

Furthermore, the Fairfax GOP filed a lawsuit on Election Day charging that election officials broke state law when they took 10 computers out of their precincts and brought them to the government center for repairs while the polls were open. The case was dismissed in late December after the county Electoral Board promised not to do that again.

The problems sparked several bills in the General Assembly related to voting machines that are scheduled for votes in the coming days. One measure would make it illegal to remove any machine from a polling place without a Republican and a Democratic observer present. Another would study whether voters should be provided with a printed confirmation of their ballots. A third would retool the way the state certifies touch-screen voting machines.

Touch-screen voting machines have been controversial in Maryland too, where the state has agreed to spend $55.6 million on them, even though legislators have said they are concerned about their security.

The pressure to pull off a problem-free primary in Fairfax rests squarely on the staff of the Electoral Board.

"The performance of these machines on Tuesday is very important to everyone who's concerned about elections running properly," said state Sen. Jeannemarie A. Devolites (R-Fairfax). "If there are problems, then that will show that the local elections board has not resolved the problems with the machines that they indicated that they did resolve."

Election officials said they have conducted numerous tests to make sure things go well tomorrow.

"We are certainly prepared," said Margaret K. Luca, secretary of the Electoral Board. "We did everything we could possibly think of" to get ready, she said.

Last month Luca told county supervisors that there had been more problems in November than her staff had reported initially: 116 of the county's 223 precincts had a touch-screen computer that needed to be rebooted or had a software glitch. An additional 38 experienced power or printing problems. Ten machines broke down completely.

At the time, election workers had a few people to call when the computers crashed. Tomorrow they will be able to call a room full of technicians with 10 phone lines. The county also will send technology experts on the road. The "rovers" will carry touch-screen machines to replace any that malfunction.

One of the biggest problems in November was a delay in getting vote totals. According to Luca, the problem arose because the software that counted votes could not communicate with each machine. Adjustments were made, and in December electoral officials took machines to 100 precincts and ran a mock election. Four precincts had problems transmitting vote tallies, which Luca attributed to "human error." Last month, the staff held another mock election with 50 precincts, and that went even more smoothly, Luca said. If any precincts have trouble transmitting vote totals electronically tomorrow, poll workers will be able to call the county registrar directly after the polls close. The number of phone lines in that office has been doubled to 32 to ensure that workers won't get a busy signal, she said.

Several software and hardware fixes were made and paid for by the machine's vendor, Luca said. One change has made the screen less sensitive to touch, which officials said they hope would cut out the kinds of inadvertent glitches that frustrated some voters in November. In addition, a warning will appear on the screen telling voters to "press lightly." The county will be showing off some of the changes publicly today during the Board of Supervisors meeting.

The machines will display a ballot for the primary that is far simpler than the one that voters faced in November, and turnout is expected to be far lighter, Luca said, so the day should go smoothly.

But even if the computers do well, they will be tested again in the fall when more than twice as many voters are expected at the polls for the presidential elections.

"I see this as a trial run for the presidential election in November," Connolly said. "We can't have any major glitches. It's got to run smoothly so people can exercise their right to vote."